By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Arutz Sheva October 9, 2005

Arab terror gangs and the PA announced a truce as the PA tries to show it
is in control, but Hamas still patrols in several Gaza towns. Firebomb and
shooting attacks against Jews on the rise.

“Any action aimed at spreading chaos or internal strife … will be
considered treason,” according to a statement at a Gaza news conference of eight
terrorist groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Several of the leaders were masked.

The statement came after the tables were turned on Hamas, and several of
its members were kidnapped and later released, a tactic Hamas has used
frequently against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and foreigners. The latest
kidnapping occurred Friday morning, and the Associated Press reported that the PA
was behind the incident. The PA Interior Ministry denied that the security
forces were involved. “This is an absolutely false allegation,” said spokesman
Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.

The truce gives the PA a better image for PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu
Mazen), who is to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week and with U.S.
President George W. Bush next week. Abbas wants to show that the PA is
overcoming anarchy.

Beneath the surface, Hamas still competes with the PA and controls several
Gaza towns, including parts of the strategic border city of Rafiah, a
smuggling point for weapons and terrorists from Egypt. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
revealed on Saturday that weapons and ammunition still are being smuggled
from Egypt through Rafiah and added that he “hopes that the Egyptians will act
against it.”

Hamas also is trying to take over in Judea and Samaria, where attacks
against Israel have been on the rise the past few days. The IDF arrested several
teenagers on Saturday for hurling firebombs and rocks at Israeli vehicles on
the main highway from Jerusalem southbound to Gush Etzion. No injuries were
reported. The IDF reported several shooting attacks and at least three
stabbing attacks against soldiers last week.

“Hamas no longer listens to the Palestinian Authority,” Israel Security
Agency director Yuval Diskin recently said.

“It is impossible to disconnect the string of terrorism between the Gaza
Strip and Judea and Samaria,” Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said last week in an
interview. “Today in Judea and Samaria, both Hamas and the (Islamic) Jihad
are reorganizing to carry out terrorist attacks.”

Hamas announced last month it has imported rocket technology into Judea and
Samaria and will shoot at nearby major population centers, such as Netanya,
Kfar Saba, Afula and Jerusalem. Arabs fired over 5,900 rockets and mortar
shells on the western Negev before and after the August withdrawal from Gaza.

Arab terrorists have not attacked from Gaza for several days, but the recent
intra-Arab battles and Saturday’s truce are seen more as a lull in
anti-Israel activity rather than a change in strategy.

Hamas is trying to manipulate a way to run in the PA legislative elections,
which already have been postponed from this past summer to January. The PA
is threatening another delay. PA chairman Abbas wants to co-opt Hamas rather
than fight its terrorists. Israel has warned it will interfere, passively,
with PA elections if Hamas participates and remains armed.

Dov Weisglass, a close aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is to meet with
PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat again on Sunday following Friday’s
discussions toward this week’s Sharon-Abbas summit. The summit is not expected to
produce any dramatic changes, according to Reuters News Agency.

The PA is expected to demand that Israel release more Arab terrorists, and
Sharon may agree to freeing those “without blood on their hands,” according to
Foreign Minister Shalom.

“The real problem is that the PA is not really willing to fight Hamas,” he
added.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 11th, 2005 and is filed under news.